Time: 11:30 AM
Location: CIC iStudio
Exploring Non-Cognitive Reasons behind Success after Failure
The availability of large-scale online courses enabled assessment of academic performances at scale. Equally important is the opportunity to investigate the state of non-cognitive or soft skills of online learners to inform design of interventions to improve learning outcomes. The present analysis looked learners who successfully passed the course, either passed at their first attempts or passed after failed attempts, and compared how their soft skills differ from the rest of learners. The findings suggested that:
- Learners who successfully passed the course tend to have strong skill sets related to time and project management;
- Learners who successfully passed the course after failed attempts tend to have higher skill sets related to decision making and leadership.
About our speaker
Elle Yuan Wang is a Research Scientist at ASU EdPlus Action Lab. Her current projects centre on assessing social and emotional learning skillsets and predicting learner longitudinal career development in large-scale online learning environments. Specifically, her projects take a comprehensive approach by linking three sources of learner data: pre-course learner motivation, within-course learner engagement, as well as post-course development. Measurement of post-course development reflects both individual learner career development as well as advancement of communities of practice. Her recent publications can be seen in Journal of Online Learning and Teaching and Journal of Learning Analytics.
She obtained a PhD in Cognitive Sciences from Columbia University and has led various projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously, she has held fellowship and positions with Mayor Bloomberg’s Office in New York, the Office of the President at Columbia University, Columbia Technology Ventures, and MTV Networks.